Asian-Americans

News about Asian-Americans, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Jun. 28, 2015

Mia Katigbak, stage actress and co-founder of National Asian American Theater Company, has been working hard for past 25 years to expand roles for Asian-American actors; her most recent effort, revival of Clifford Odets' 1935 play Awake and Sing! at Public Theater, will feature Asian-Americans playing characters in multigenerational Jewish family. MORE

Jun. 27, 2015

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's announcement that Lunar New Year will officially be placed on calendar as public school holiday was culmination of decade-long campaign by handful of officials and Asian-American advocates. MORE

Jun. 25, 2015

The Upshot; study published in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science underscores degree to which racial disparities in United States are caused by so-called neighborhood gap; study used census data and found that white and Asian-American families across nation are much more likely than black families, even those considered middle-class, to live in good neighborhoods. MORE

Jun. 23, 2015

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio's administration is poised to add Lunar New York to city's public school calendar; move will allow city's Asian children to celebrate holiday with families without tarnishing their attendance records. MORE

Jun. 18, 2015

Manhattan detectives are seeking Tyrelle D Shaw in connection with series of attacks on Asian women after his relatives contact authorities; family grew concerned after seeing surveillance video and noticing series of blog posts by Shaw that claimed connection with crimes and threatened suicide. MORE

Jun. 17, 2015

Police believe that four separate attacks on women in Manhattan are bias crimes committed by one man; all victims are Asian and all were struck in face with hard object concealed in plastic bag. MORE

Jun. 14, 2015

Jay Caspian King Letter of Recommendation column appreciates 1994 mockumentary film Fear of a Black Hat, which he says helped him find sense of identity as Korean teenager in North Carolina. MORE

May. 24, 2015

Many South Asian-American men are struggling to balance traditional expectations for finding a bride through family matchmaking with modern Western ideals of marrying for love. MORE

Mar. 21, 2015

Plight of Queens woman Myung Hwa Jang is cautionary tale about dangers of glucose injections, practice that is popular pick-me-up among Asian immigrants; Jang has learned to adapt to her new normal two years after infection from intravenous glucose procedure resulted in multiple amputations; Jang has filed lawsuit against Queens medical clinic where she received injections. MORE

Feb. 8, 2015

Wesley Yang article chronicles career of Eddie Huang, chef and television host whose memoir Fresh Off the Boat has been turned in ABC sitcom of same name; notes that Huang has long-held reservations about way Asian-American experience is perceived in American culture. MORE

Jan. 4, 2015

Surge in ranks of Asian-American officers in the New York City Police Department has been little noticed, but shooting of Officer Wenjian Liu and other incidents of violence against Asian officers have shown how they are now on frontlines; 2,100 Asian-American officers are in uniform today, rise from 200 officers on force twenty-five years ago; risk to Asian-American segment of police population has increased as they have been assigned to all precincts, instead of just those with large Asian-American communities. MORE

Nov. 25, 2014

Op-Ed article by political theorist Yascha Mounk examines evidence that Harvard University engages in so-called racial balancing, effectively limiting the number of Asian-Americans who are accepted despite that group's superior performance on standardized tests; argues key issues are the perception that Asians lack individuality, and an unacknowledged aversion to whites becoming a minority at the school; calls for more transparent system so that intangible admission criteria cannot be used to discriminate against Asian-American applicants. MORE

Jul. 9, 2014

Vera Institute of Justice study of 222,542 resolved Manhattan prosecutions finds race was a significant factor in setting bail, negotiating plea deals and sentencing; reports black and Hispanic defendants are more likely to be held in jail before trial and more likely to be offered plea bargains that include prison sentence than whites and Asians charged with same crimes. MORE

Jun. 23, 2014

Off Broadway musical Here Lies Love, along with several upcoming revivals, features high number of Asian-Americans in leading roles that have traditionally gone to non-Asians; more plays and musicals are also telling stories from Asian viewpoints, breaking stereotypes and achieving long-held goal of Asian-American artists. MORE

May. 5, 2014

Rachel L Swarns The Working Life column cites New York City study that has found poverty rate in Queens rose by 6 percentage points from 2008 to 2012, highest increase of any borough; notes much of that jump was related to struggles of Asian New Yorkers, half of whom live in the borough. MORE

Jan. 31, 2014

New York City Mayor Bill de Blaso is said to be considering making Lunar New Year a citywide holiday, something parents in Chinatown and parts of Queens have encouraged for years; hundreds if not thousands of New York City school absentees are expected as children and grandchildren of immigrants, and others intent on keeping their traditions very much alive, gather, exchange gifts, and party in celebration of the holiday. MORE

Jan. 15, 2014

Elder care issues in the United States are playing out with particular resonance for many Asian-Americans struggling to abide by a strong code under which they are commonly expected to care for their parents at home; few institutions are prepared to help such families because of language barriers and lack of cross-cultural training, underscoring the need for culturally competent elder care services for Asian-Americans. MORE

Nov. 26, 2013

Tide of Asian immigrants is sweeping America, upending voting blocks, reconfiguring neighborhoods and re-framing meaning of traditional family values. MORE

Nov. 22, 2013

Mike Hale Critic's Notebook holds that role played by Maggie Q on CW series Nikita and Lucy Liu's turn as Joan Watson on CBS series Elementary are rarities in that they are interesting and complex female leads being played by Asian-American actresses; says that most Asian actresses still end up playing characters shaped to reflect longstanding stereotypes about Asians. MORE

Nov. 16, 2013

Samuel G Freedman On Religion column holds that Christopher Chen documentary film Linsanity, about Chinese basketball player Jeremy Lin, is as much about an Asian-American Christian as it is an about Asian-American sports star. MORE

Oct. 3, 2013

Chemult Journal; mostly Asian-American, freelance army of mushroom pickers are drawn to Chemult, Ore, each fall to hunt down matsutake mushrooms, which no longer fetch high prices they once did. MORE

Jul. 3, 2013

South Asians in Queens will for first time find ballots translated into Bengali when they go to polls with other New Yorkers for Sept 10 primary; language is first new one to be introduced at New York City polling booths in more than a decade. MORE

Apr. 29, 2013

Much of current immigration debate in Congress has focused on Hispanics, and California has for decades been viewed as focal point of that migration; still, population growth of Asians in California has outpaced that of Hispanics in last 10 years, and Asian immigrants have become a dominant cultural force in places that were once largely white or Hispanic. MORE

Apr. 18, 2013

Profile of Danielle Chang, founder of LuckyRice, popular New York Asian food festival that has spread to four other cities. MORE

Mar. 17, 2013

Photographs of Corky Lee, renowned chronicler of Asian-American life, are on view in exhibit Asian Roots/American Soil at Stony Brook University (Metropolitan/Long Island). MORE

Feb. 27, 2013

Indian-American lawyer Ro Khanna is considering a primary challenge against Japanese-American Michael M Honda in California's 17th Congressional District, first in United States to have a majority of Asian-Americans; challenge has already set off intense maneuvering in district, and highlights potential emerging rivalries among different Asian groups. MORE

Feb. 20, 2013

Profile of Larry Kwong, first hockey player of Chinese descent to appear in NHL game when he joined New York Rangers in 1948; Kwong played only one shift in one game that season before returning to his native Canada, where he became a star player. MORE

Jan. 30, 2013

Police arrest Jason Commisso in connection with string of brutal robbery attacks on Asians in East Harlem. MORE

Jan. 9, 2013

Members of new class of affluent Asian-Americans are making their mark on philanthropy in the United States; they are donating large sums to groups focused on their own diasporas or their homelands, and also to prestigious universities, museums, concert halls and hospitals. MORE

Dec. 20, 2012

Op-Ed article by sociology Prof Carolyn Chen warns that elite colleges have implicit quotas for Asian-American students, and that such quotas have psychological consequences for all students; contends that setting quotas for high-achieving Asian-Americans sends message to all students that hard work and good grades are fool's errand. MORE

Dec. 18, 2012

First Lt Daniel L Schwartz, only officer to be implicated in the death of Pvt Danny Chen, Chinese-American soldier from New York City who killed himself while on a military base in Afghanistan, has made a deal with prosecutors; Schwartz will avoid trial but will be dismissed from the military. MORE

Nov. 9, 2012

David Brooks Op-Ed column contends presidential election has shown that Republicans' message equating more government with less work does not resonate with many voters, particularly Asian-American and Hispanic voters; suggests Republicans focus on adjusting their economic values to appeal to such groups, who in many ways share Republican value of hard work and entrepreneurship. MORE

Nov. 4, 2012

Asian-Americans, fasting-growing ethnic group in country, are tangled up in race-conscious college admissions in complicated ways; some see themselves as victims of affirmative action while others feel they benefit from it. MORE

Oct. 27, 2012

Asian students continue to succeed in the grueling admissions test for New York City’s elite public high schools; many Asian-American students and their parents point to family motivation as a factor, but others say the test discriminates against some minorities and have begun calling for an end to the policy of using the test as the sole basis of admission to the schools. MORE

Oct. 19, 2012

Eleven states with surging Asian populations are being compelled by federal law to print ballots in languages other than English, allowing immigrants with limited English skills to participate more effectively in elections; process has been hobbled by reluctant election departments and translation gaffes that have misinformed or deterred voters. MORE

Aug. 1, 2012

Military jury, which earlier found Army Sgt Adam M Holcomb guilty of two counts of maltreatment and one count of assault against Pvt Danny Chen, recommends that Holcomb be sentenced to 30 days in prison, reduced one rank, to specialist, and fined $1,181.55; supporters of Chen's family, who reacted with disappointment when Holcomb was acquitted on more serious charges, call sentencing too lenient. MORE

Jul. 31, 2012

Military jury finds Sgt Adam M Holcomb not guilty of negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, communicating a threat and hazing in death of Pvt Danny Chen, who killed himself in 2011 while deployed in Afghanistan; Holcomb was convicted on two counts of maltreatment and one count of assault. MORE

Jul. 27, 2012

Pfc Degan Berhe testifies at the court-martial of Sgt Adam M Holcomb, one of eight solders facing charges in connection with the suicide of Pvt Danny Chen in Afghanistan; says that days before his death, Chen said he was thinking of killing himself over harassment from superiors; prosecutors contend that Holcomb subjected Chen to racist comments and hazing, leading to his suicide. MORE

Jul. 25, 2012

First court-martial in the death of Private Danny Chen, a Chinese-American soldier from Lower Manhattan who committed suicide while serving in Afghanistan, opens; prosecution argues that repeated abuse by a fellow soldier, including racial taunts, drove Chen to suicide; defense for Sgt Adam M Holcomb, one of eight soldiers implicated in the death, say Pvt Chen was distraught over his poor performance in the military. MORE

Jun. 28, 2012

Assemblywoman Grace Meng is likely to be New York City’s first Asian-American in Congress after resounding victory to become the Democratic nominee to represent a House district that includes portions of central and eastern Queens. MORE

Jun. 23, 2012

Op-Ed article by author and legal expert Frank H Wu examines the legacy of discrimination against Asian-Americans, recalling the murder of Chinese-American Vincent Chin in 1982; contends that racism persists in the form of the 'model minority' myth, which regards Asian-Americans as overachieving nerds. MORE

Jun. 19, 2012

Pew Research Center releases study showing that Asians have surpassed Hispanics as the largest wave of new immigrants to the United States, pushing the population of Asian descent to a record 18.2 million and helping to make Asians the fastest-growing racial group in the country. MORE

Jun. 16, 2012

Samuel G Freedman On Religion column on married couple Helen K. Kim and Noah S. Leavitt, who have both a personal and scholarly interest in intermarriage between Asian-Americans and American Jews; couple has published a major research paper on the subject. MORE

Apr. 20, 2012

Great Wall supermarket in Northern Virginia, one of many businesses that have opened to cater to the Asian population, is being sued by the state for illegally selling wildlife; case, which is scheduled to go to trial in June, puts culinary traditions of Asian immigrants into conflict with state laws, illustrating what some see as a cultural fault line in a changing population. MORE

Apr. 1, 2012

Interracial marriage rates are at an all-time high in the United States, but Asian-Americans are bucking that trend, increasingly choosing their soul mates from among their own expanding racial group. MORE

Mar. 14, 2012

New York City Campaign Finance Board director Daniel Cho, concerned about the dampening effect that fund-raising scandal involving Comptroller John C Liu could have on Asian-American voters, leads workshop on the dos and don'ts of campaign finance; session is held at the request of the Asian American Civic Alliance, a coalition of community groups formed after Liu's woes came to light. MORE

Mar. 2, 2012

Smoking rate in New York City's Asian population has remained steady since 2002, most notably among men, despite decreases in the habit among almost every other demographic; city is stepping up its efforts to target Asian smokers with its annual anti-smoking ad campaign, but to date, city's policies and programs have been unable to penetrate persistent cultural norms. MORE

Feb. 27, 2012

Thriving Asian-American basketball leagues have existed for years, long before New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin surged to stardom; league members see Lin's success as an eye-opener rather than a novelty, bringing nation's belated attention to their love of the sport. MORE

Feb. 17, 2012

Author Gish Jen Op-Ed article suggests that by watching New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, Americans may come to better appreciate how complex Asian culture is, and how poised it is to enrich the country in yet more surprising ways. MORE

Feb. 16, 2012

Many Asian-American basketball fans in New York cannot watch Jeremy Lin, rising star of the New York Knicks, on television because their games have been blacked out in cable dispute between Time Warner and MSG Network; network executives invite residents of a Chinatown neighborhood to a party to watch the game and explain their side of the dispute. MORE

Tyrelle D. Shaw, a budding artist and bow-tie designer, seemed to be overcoming his difficult upbringing, until feelings of rejection drove him to assault at least four women before staging a gruesome last act.